Star Wars: Heart of Evil
by Darth Saboteur
Summary: A few years after Traya's death, a new Sith Lord has arisen. Several heroes and antiheroes are destined to face this threat, will they suceed for the better of the galaxy, or will a new threat rise from the ashes?
1. The Beginning

Story Title: Star Wars: Heart of Evil

Characters: Sparrrow Volescu, Serap Aku, Xander Floyd, Xantos Kelvin, Reg Tollian, Raiden Skywalker, Mihial, Jinn Starr, Fortis, Riquus Tad

Category: Action/Adventure, General

Era: 3 Years after KotOR2

Revan's alignment and gender: Light Side and Gender unspecified

Exile's alignment and gender: Light Side Female  
Disclaimer: Sparrow, Serap, Xander, Darth Xanith, Xantos, Reg, Mihial, Jinn, Fortis, Riquus, Xanith's Sith Master, and the Dark and Light Force Avatars are not mine. Neither is Star Wars.

--

The Backstory:

The Onderonian Civil War was stopped. Telos was healed. Dantooine has repaired, and become a bustling place, under the guidance of Prime Minister Adare. Taris has also started a long process of healing.

Five years ago, three Sith Lords fell in battle. Nihilus, Sion, and Traya were destroyed, killed at the hands of a lone warrior, a Jedi, a wound in the Force, and she has left the known galaxy, in search of an Ex-Lord of the Sith. The Sith were thrown into disarray.

But, a powerful Dark Jedi named Xanith has risen, and he has re-shaped the Sith Empire. Once again a strong threat to the Republic, it commences attacks on the Outer Rim.

Several heros, and anti-heros wish an end to this domineering force.Whether to protect the Galaxy, or take it for themselves, there must be an finish to this evil.

--

The peaceful Dantooine Enclave, tediously rebuilt by the the tireless Disciple, was now a large training academy for Jedi. Three young Jedi, Sparrow Volescu, Serap Aku, and Xander Floyd, were in the middle of meditation when their master entered.

"Excuse me, Padawans, may I have a word?" asked Mical.

The three jedi followed Mical to a nearby room, which was a small office like place. Mical had them sit down.

"I have heard a disturbance in the force. I fear Darth Xanith is getting more powerful. I'll need you three to train, harder and more powerful than before. There is a taint, on the far side of the planet. I fear it is the Dark Side. I'll need you three to go investigate."

The three of them nodded, and they left the room, and then the enclave.

"Well, I suppose we should train first," said Sparrow.

"Agreed," said Xander.

"Wait," said Serap, "Who should be the team leader?"

---

"Cmon, were getting out of here," said a voice.

Three Jedi, young ones who kept together, best friends, left the Jedi Enclave. They felt they had no need for the Jedi Teachings anymore, and wanted to go Rogue.

"Now, are we sure about this," said a voice as the three ran.

"I don't know" said another.

"Whatever we choose to do, we need a leader" said the last.

---

"DIE!" said a bounty hunter as he charged another.

The attacked one fell down, dead. Shot by three others.

"Nice job, guys" said Jinn Starr, with a grin.

"He was getting us angry, wasn't he?" asked Riquus.

"Oh yeah, and we stuck him good," said Mihial, looking at the corpse.

Jinn Starr stared at the pile of credits the dead guy dropped.

These four men were friends to the core, they had met a little while ago, and linked up, and were a deadly team of fighters.

Now, they were bound to an Exchange boss on Nar Shaddaa.

"I want to get out of here" said Jinn, picking up money.

"Same here, I want greener pastures." said Mihial

"Yeah, but where are we gonna be without a leader?" asked Riquus

---

"I nominate myself as party leader. And did anyone notice that Master Mical's fly was open other than me?"

Serap just noticed something, he zipped his up.

"Of course we could always not have a team leader. That works pretty well for me. I say we go train on some settlers. Sounds pretty fun to me... Just kidding. Seriously, where should we train? I think it would be better if we trained at the enclave some more, until we're ready to leave."

Sparrow shook his head. "I think you're just imagining things, Serap." he shrugged, not even remembering Master Mical even _having_ a fly. "But I'll have to suggest we train in the Kinrath caves. Those guys just never run out of hatchlings. I've also heard there are some rare crystals in there..." he grinned, the prospect of sabre-crystal hunting intriquing him.

"Ok...um... how about you go in front, and I'll uh... watch your flank."

Serap was not a fan of the dark, nor Kinrath, or any other spider-like organisms.(Hey! Just like me!) He started twiddling his thumbs...

"Yeah! We could always use more crystals, and by clearing out the kinrath, we could make the plains a lot safer for the settlers. Just last week, a settler, and his wife was killed out in the plains by a kinrath, and I gave their kids most of my money, but I still think they're in big trouble."

Sparrow laughed at Serap's seeming fear. "Serap, we aren't even there yet." He paused. "But... perhaps we do need a group leader... I personally don't care."

"I suppose it would be much better, for you to go in first but that does not mean you get first pick of the crystals. I really want a Kasha crystal I hope I can find some... I also heard that sometimes when Jedi go into the cave, they find a crystal specially attuned to them, I hope I can get a crystal like that too..." said Serap

Xander catches up with the other two.  
"We'll all split the crystals, but keep in mind that's not the only reason we're going there, we need to train. And if we can't decide on who gets a crystal, we'll just have to hand it over to Master Mical"

Sparrow nodded. "Yeah... true. That's a good idea. And don't worry, Serap. I don't even want a Kasha crystal."

--

"I'm just a simple scout one of you three can be the leader. But for now let us get some where safe to make the choice." Says Jinn

"Yes, let's get out of here," agreed Riquus, glancing around, "The geometry is horrible."  
"A leader?" Riquus mentally asked himself as he and his companions exited the scene. Due to his age, he had always thought of himself as a parent, or at least an older brother, of the other three in his little band, but they were on equal terms with one another.  
He had already ordered men to their deaths during the war, and felt no desire to do so again. Riquus glanced at his three friends, wondering if he had what it took to order them to place themselves in danger, to get hurt, to act against their will and common sense. And if they would even obey.

"I have always acted on my own," said Fortis. "From the time I was six years old until only 5 months ago when I meant you all. Plus I'm only 14. I don't think I'm ready to lead."

"Riquus is 32," thought Fortis to himself. "Why doesn't he just take charge already?"

"Yes Riq, why dont you take leadership I have faith in you," Jinn says over his shoulder staying a bit ahead of the rest to scout the area. He keeps his rifle in hand just in case.

--

"I agree with Xander's idea. We should give it to Mical if we can't decide. He'll give it to me, because we all know he likes ME, the best..." (A/N: In your dreams Serap, only in your wildest dreams.)

Sparrow shook his head. "Pft. Sure. You'll understand if I respectfully disagree." He turned towards the exit of the Enclave, as they walked into the main courtyard. "But because both of you can't decide, _I'll_ be the leader. Come on, let's go." Without waiting for input from the others, Sparrow walked off towards the Enclave's exit.

"Hey! Wait up!"

Serap ran to him, and started walking at a steady pace, right behind him...

"Ok Sparrow, you can lead us. Just do not get too confident, if we try to investigate a dark taint and we give in just a little bit, then all we have worked for will be in vain, because we will already be doomed," said Xander

Sparrow nodded. "Of course." He said, as they left the Enclave, and they exited to the plains of Dantooine. Pretty soon, however, once they got far enough from the Enclave, a group of three Kinrath were sitting in the open. Sparrow thumbed on his Sabre.

Serap stunned with the force. The other two rushed toward him. He went behind Sparrow, and the two kinrath directed their attention on Sparrow. Serap ran up to the stunned Kinrath, and started attacking it with his lightsaber. The Kinrath finally went down

Xander gets into battle position ready to strike at the first sign off attack. He fingers his lightsaber waiting for the kinrath to make the first strike. At the first sign of movement he plunges at the kinrath to ensure that Sparrow does not take any hits. Using a defensive lightsaber form he successfully defends, and destroys a kinrath

Sparrow frowned at Serap; these Kinrath weren't so tough. He concentrated the force into his left hand (his right held his sabre) and thrusted it up into the air, upon which a wave a air and energy erupted from his fist. The Force Push picked up the remaining Kinrath and hurled it away, smacking it against a tree, making quite a bloody mess

Xander force pushed it gently away from the path and used Beast Control, "Let's not spill too much blood if we can avoid it, this is their territory."

Serap looked at the bloody mess of a Kinrath.

"Oh dear. I'm going to be si-"

Serap fell down to his knees, and vomited.

Xander watched Serap vomit and said, "Hold it in man, we're gonna see worse on this journey, save it for then"

"F-fine. Can we go into the Kinrath Cave now. And try not to make any more bloody messes, Sparrow." Said the frightened Serap

Sparrow made a mock-pout. "Aww... fine." they continued on their way, until they got to the mouth of the Kinrath Cave. Oddly enough, they did not encounter any more Kinrath on the way. "Hm... strange that we didn't run into any more Kinrath on the way. So... ready, all of you?"

"Only if you go in first! Remember! I'm guarding the middle! I'll be between Sparrow and Xander! Sparrow goes in front, then me, than Xander in the back."

"I'm ready, I'll keep an eye out for any approaching enemies. And remember, for both their sake (and Serap's), try not to make this too gory and out of control."

Sparrow sighed, grinning, and then took off at a run into, purposfully leaving Xander and Serap behind. A bit deeper into the cave, he saw another Kinrath, although it was difficult to make it out in the dark. He simply used the Force to pick it up and smash it into the cave walls, which broke the Kinrath's bones, killing it, but didn't open any wounds... he grinned as he had an idea. Hiding himself in a particularly dark area in the cave, Sparrow used the Force to "blow up" the Kinrath into its original shape... not perfect, but it would do in the dark. He then picked it up with his hands, setting it into the middle of the corridor, and then hid in wait for his friends.

Serap ran into the Crystal Cave to. He hurried along. He saw the blown-up Kinrath, and thought there was something strange with it. He approached it...

Xander head in the cave following Sparrow, his movements quiet and subtle. He notices from far off a kinrath standing in the middle of the path, and motions for Serap not to attack right away

Sparrow grinned wider. _Now!_ He used to Force to make the Kinrath pounce on Serap, trying to mimic all the movements a Kinrath should make, but not doing a very good job, but the darkness would make it seem real, and that's all that mattered...

"AHHHH!"

He tried to use the force to put it in stasis, but nothing worked. The Kinrath knocked off his lightsaber. It also pushed Serap down. Serap didn't see Sparrow, though Xander did. He closed his eyes and cowered on the ground,

"AHHH! HELP! AHHH!"

Shortly after, Sparrow stepped out of the shadows, using the Force to pull away the dead Kinrath and set it aside. He laughed, almost doubling over. "Haha! You should've seen your face...!"

For a touch of revenge Xander concentrated and uses the force to pick of a rock and throw it behind Sparrow making a loud disturbing sound, somewhat resembling that of a stomp

Sparrow suddenly froze for a second, then spun around, raising his unignited Sabre to defend himself... and saw nothing. He looked around, semi-nervously. "Kinrath don't get that big..." he muttered to himself.

Xander rolled his lightsaber in the direction the noise came from and used a small unnoticed rock to turn it on creating a quick flash that blinded all in the room

A tad bit miffed off, Serap walked up to Sparrow, while he was turned around. He immeditely gave Sparrow a swift kick in the butt as hard as he could... which wasn't too hard.

As the flashed happened, Sparrow jumped when Serap kicked him, and he let off a surprised yelp.

Unfortunatly, the flash brough unwanted attention and not only was it a surprise to Xander, but one of the kinrath had taken his lightsaber and ran away

Serap saw that Xander didn't have his lightsaber. Serap looked around! A kinrath also took his lightsaber too!

Xander jumped up and turned on his stelth generator. "The main part of defense is to not be seen. You guys can follow, but be silent"

"Ok... I'll be silent!"

Of course, Serap said that very loud, and it attracted tons of Kinrath in the cave. They started swarming at the party... Serap ran behind Sparrow again

The party was soon overcome by a Kinrath swarm. They covered the walls and the ground and the ceiling of the cave. The party ran away, and the last in the group was about to get overrun, when a mystery person came out of nowhere and struck down the Kinrath. They ran out of the cave.

"And who are you?" asked Serap

"My name is Dave. I've come to save you from these kinrath. I am a Jedi"

"Thanks I guess" was a mumbled reply

Sparrow noticed that he was the only one with a Lightsabre as the Kinrath closed in on him... there were 4 of them, and 2 of them had the Sabres. He ignited his Sabre, dropping into a Niman battle stance, and rushed them. He sliced two of them, causing them to drop the Sabres, and then the other two fell to his Force Push, slammed into the walls. He knelt, somewhat winded for his efforts

Xander used some force to heal the very minimal damage Sparrow had taken. Then he proceeded after the kinrath.

Serap's lightsaber returned to his hand. Two Kinrath approached from the side. Serap put them both in stasis, at different times, and then chopped them up with his lightsaber.

Xander finally find the theiving kinrath and uses beast control, then takes it back, it flickers to life between his fingers

"Hey guys! Can we get some crystals now?" Serap asked

Sparrow nodded, dispatching a few remaining Kinrath with his Sabre. "Yeah... let's go. I bet we've killed half of the Kinrath in this cave..."

"Alright! You go into the crystal place first! I'll follow you!"

"Hah! First one there gets first pick!" Sparrow shouted with sudden glee, taking off at a Force-aided run again

"Wait up! Slow down! I..I don't like the dark! Please!"

Serap ran yelling after Sparrow

Using stealth appears next to Sparrow and jokingly trips him. "I think I should be first for once, I won't try to take them all" he said in a joking voice

Sparrow didn't expect this at all, and he fell right into the trip... falling flat on his face in a heap.

Serap passed the tripped sparrow very quickly, and he kicked Sparrow in the kidney, while Serap was passing him. Serap was behind Xander, but infront of Sparrow. Serap rubbed his hands in glee.

Xander helps Sparrow up while meanwhile holding out his leg to trip Serap. "Let's go together."

Sparrow grunted as he got up with Xander's help, and watched as Serap spilled to the floor as Xander tripped him. "Heh... good idea."

Serap picked a large rock from the ground, and threw it at sparrow. It sparrow, but it exploded in green goo.

"Wait! That's not a rock. It's a kinrath egg. And if there are Kinrath Eggs, there must be a Kinrath Matriar-"

Xander draws his light sabre and turns on stealth. "If any of you get in danger, run, I'll hold him off."

Sparrow spat out some of the green fluid as he wiped more of it off his face, and managed to get all of it off him by wiping it off his sleeve. Suddenly, an... exceptionally large Kinrath approached the group, it's metaphorical eye on Sparrow of daring to hurt one of the eggs, even if it wasn't really his fault...

"Oh, great..." Sparrow said, as he thumbed on his Sabre, the blue blade sparking to existence

"And if there's a Kinrath Matriach, theres usually a whole brood of Kinrath Hatchlings guarding it..."

Serap was up, and behind Sparrow. About 3 dozen Kinrath Hatchlings were surrounding the Matriach.

Xander silently places mine around the beast and whispers for the others to stand back, the blast will weaken it

A kinrath hatchling hit the mine. It blew up with sickening results, that made Serap sick.

"Great. Only 35 Hatchlings and 1 Matriarch left."

Sparrow twirled his Sabre behind him, serious for once. The twirling Sabre made a circle in the air, and then Sparrow snapped it into place behind him. 4 of the Kinrath Hatchlings jumped at him, and he held the Sabre infront of him, twirling it again. As the Kinrath helplessly hit his blade, they got chopped into dozens of peices. "31 to go..." he muttered.

Serap used force push on the top of the cave. Several Large Rocks came down. Three Kinrath were squished. 28 to go.

Xander force waved a group of 5 hatchlings while avoiding the Matriarch, we're on our way

Dave, having a good control over the force, used force storm killing 5 hatchlings and slightly damaging the kinrath matriarch.  
"Hope that helps us" he says to himself

Serap loved his ceiling idea. He Force Pushed the ceiling again, until tons and tons of rocks fell, crushing 6 kinrath!

"Wooo!"

Sparrow brandished his Sabre in the Niman stance, before launching himself into a particularly packed area of 5 Kinrath. Several deft Sabre strokes later, they all lay dead, but Sparrow had taken an arm wound. He clasped his other hand over the wound in his Sabre arm, but it wasn't particularly crippling. Just annoying.

Dave noticed Sparrow holding his arm, so Dave runs over and stands in front of Sparrow to protect him just incase kinrath smell his blood.

Realizing Sparrow's wound, Xander stalls and goes after the matriarch to buy time for the others.

Xander starts fighting, but takes a poisonous wound to his leg, unable yo walk to reach his fallen medical equipment all Xander can do is hold his own down from the matriarch.

Kinrath after Kinrath comes charging towards Dave and Sparrow. Thinking quickly, Dave grabs Sparrow's lightsaber off the cave floor. Although he did it recklessly, Dave proceeded to slaughter the kinrath as the got closer. By the time he is done, 7 kinrath are laying around him.

Serap used his roof-Force Push strategy to take out the rest of the Hatchlings. Only the Matriarch remained...

Sparrow gritted his teeth, and also liked Serap's idea of the ceiling thing. He broke off a few stalagmites with the Force, and speared 2 Kinrath with them.

A voice rang through all the Jedi's heads.

:The Dark Side grows in you all. You carry within yourselves to be a destructive force, capable of ripping apart the fabric of the Galaxy. The Dark Side is strength, the Lightside is weakness. Come. Embrace the Dark Side. You'll need it.:

A person appears in peoples minds. A tall man, with a long coat, the Dark Side orbiting his body. Suddenly, familiar faces rage across the minds of the adventurers. Revan. Malak. Sion. Nihilus. Kreia. Darth Xanith.

Xander listens to the voice but quickly trails back to thought. He has tried to hard to do the right things to give up all he has worked for, no matter how tempting. With his mind clear again he rolls to the side and grabs his supplies to heal himself

Completely ignoring the Matriarch and his wound, Sparrow clutched at his head with both hands, the images and his voice giving him a terrible headache... it was all he could do not to scream. He collapsed on the floor, breathless

Xander rushes to Sparrow and even though he had a clear shot at the enemy he would not leave his helpless friend. He stood in defense position ready to protect to his dying breath

"NO!" yells Dave as the images of the Sith Lords rage across his mind. In a desperate act to get the images and voice out of his head, Dave starts playing pazaak. Soon realizing it doesnt work, Dave ignites his saber, and throws it without caring where it goes. A loud, tingling screech echos thru the cave. Dave opens his eyes to realize his saber stabbed the kinrath matriach in the back of the head, killing it instantly.

The Kinrath screeched and retreated, apparently beaten down for the day. The disappear to the cracks of the cave, and the party ventures forth.

Rattled by the Avatar of the Dark Side, the four men happen upon crystals in the back of the cave. They could feel the Force echo through them.

They are presented with a choice. They can either share the crystals with their fellows, or take them to enhance their own saber.

"AHHH!"

Dave's Lightsaber stabbed Serap in the knee painfully while he was swinging it around. Serap fell to ground.

"AHH! The pain! Nooo! The images! Please! NOOO! AGGGGGGH!"

Serap screamed and screamed he lay prostrate on the ground, and clutching his head.

:Each of you must choose what you will do...and nothing else yet.:

Sparrow got up shakingly, and saw the crystals as everyone else had. He shook his head, deciding to let the others have their pick first... "Go ahead, everyone... I'll pick from what's left... and get up, Serap. It's not that bad." He used the Force to help heal Serap's knee.

"I shall share the crystals," said Dave, not giving in to the temptation of selfishness

Serap barely got up, injured. Every second, felt like pure pain, but Serap slowly shut them out with the force. He slowly (very slowly) diminished the pain, but the wound would not heal if he didn't get into a Kolto Tank.

"No. Please. Sparrow. Take them. I don't deserve them. I didn't do anything. If it wasn't for you guys, I'd be dead. I didn't do anything. They're all yours."

Sparrow shook his head at him. "I distinctly remember you killing half of them while I was a useless lump on the floor. Take them." Sparrow actually remembered that happening before he fell to the ground, but he wasn't about to say as much.

"I'm obviously sharing the crystals," said Xander, following the example all else set for him.

"Half of them? I never did that. I just hid behind you, and shot out the occiasional force power... you deserve them." Said Serap, declining the first serve of the crystals.

"How about we take the crystals to Master Mical and let him decide who gets what, or if we get any crystals at all?"

"We'll bring them all to the master, except for this one, this goes to Serap. He did destroy most of those hatchlings"

A voice touches their minds and silences them.

"You have all chosen wisely and in my favor, and I shall reward you. Look into your souls and know me, and know the battle is here joined. Ever vigilant we must be... for wherever light gains strength, the Darkness awaits..."

As the light side Avatar floated in the young Jedi minds, a dark cloud loomed from beyond.

Sparrow nodded at Dave's dicision. "That sounds like a fair arrangement. Let's do that." He walked to a crystal formation, and placed his hand on it. He tried to concentrate, to see what kind of crystal it was through the Force, and what kind of affect it would have on a Sabre.

:FOOLS. You have chosen unwisely, and this...thing does not tell the truth. The Dark Side is stronger:

The Dark Avatar floated in their minds, corruption reeking from him, and he extended his arm, and a lightsaber appeared.

The Light Avatar did the same.

With a quick flick of the Dark Avatar's hand, most of the Dark Side's powers flew at the Light Avatar, and she fell down. Her "body" was risen into the air, and then Crushed, and it fell, and disappeared into blue energy which floated away.

:None can face the POWER of the Dark Side:

The Avatar vanished

Sparrow's mind was not hurting nearly as bad through all of this, even when the Dark Avatar 'killed' the Light Avatar. He shook his head to clear it... "No... the Dark Side is corruption... it is weakness, it is evil." Feeling himself convinced, he shook his head as the vision cleared.

Xander knew of the dark side, he had fought his urges to give in all his life, and he would not stop know. For he knew in his head the dark would consume you, and the light would win, for their choices would be their own.

As the visions fade, they each find one crystal in their hands, and the Avatar of Light's voice echoes inside them. "I give you each a gift, and it is yours alone.

Sparrow, you have the Vakrob Crystal. From time to time, due to its special resonance with the Force, it will give you a psychic vision of the past, the future, or the present.

Serap Aku, I give you the Raest Crystal. It will harness the elemental nature of the wind. With it you may throw your enemies back five feet and obscure the battlefield in the eyes of your enemies. because of it's elemental properties, if you are in a natural wind, you will be rejuvenated and even healed by attuning yourself with this crystal.

Xander, I give you the Okkarian Crystal. By calling upon the nature of this crystal, you can summon a native creature to defend you and your allies, and it will stay until it is too badly wounded to continue, or until its natural needs overcome it.

Dave, I give you the Erdran Crystal. This is an elemental crystal in tune with the element of earth. With this crystal, you may pass through any wall that is made entirely of a substance belonging to the heart of the planet on which you stand - native rock and metal. As an elemental crystal it also grants you the power to rejuvenate and heal yourself by placing yourself in contact with a natural and native earth element.

Use these gifts wisely, and do not covet what your fellow may hold. What may seem more powerful at first glance may not be so in the end."

The Four Jedi headed back to the Enclave, to speak to Master Mical. On the way, they laughed at old fun at the academy, and regaled each other with stories heroism from the wars.

They each liked their crystals, and would treasure them. They entered Master Mical's office.

"Well now, it seems you've been traveling. And you've found some crystals, and gained strength. I am about to send you on a final test, after which, you will be required to travel across worlds to track down the Sith. The taint I spoke of. It will be a long walk. You must travel there, by foot, and cleanse it of the Darkside." said Mical.

"Sounds...fun" said Dave.

"Oh yeah," said Serap, "Real fun"

Sparrow frowned. "Not that I'm... complaining, but why is it important that we walk there?"

Dave looks around at his fellow Jedi, after putting the crystal in his saber.

"Where to next guys? Should we stop in town and get some supplies? Or just test our luck?"

Serap installed his crystal as well.

"I think we should hit the down. You know, buy some stuff, drink some juma juice, watch some twi-lek dancer's, you know. You know, you've gotta say, that lightside avatar was pretty hot..."

With a deft movement, Sparrow smacked Serap lightly upside the head. It seemed so practiced, that it was as if he did it often... and he probably did.

He then set to work installing his crystal without a further word.

"Ow! Anyways, I think we should go to the town. What do you guys think?"

"Ya I say we go. I could use something to eat. But we cant forget about our mission. So we gotta stay alert"

Sparrow nodded, looking up from his crystal intallment. "I agree. We should get some medical supplies and some food, too; seems like there's a long road ahead of us."

"But how do we get to the town? It'll take way to long to walk there, and my legs are tired. I can barely stand up. I need to get to a kolto tank. A certian DAVE, stabbed my knee." Said Serap, growing a little irratated at the group's insistance to walk when they could just use a speeder

"Well lets get some rest here first, then continue on our way. I'm sure Master Mical wouldn't mind if we stayed a little longer. But its up to you guys. We could practice while the others rest" Dave commented, he turned to Serap, and says:

"Serap, im really sorry about your knee. I wasnt aware that you were that close to me. Besides, it happened when I was protecting Sparrow. But still, im sorry."

Sparrow looked over at Serap. "And... don't worry about the Kinrath deal. In fact, you probably did more good than harm. It will take a while for the Kinrath to get a Matriarch, and with all the hatchlings and eggs we destroyed... it'll take them a good year for them to replace the population. It'll give the settlers some breathing room." his look suddenly turned sour. "But that green stuff was nasty! I think I got some in my mouth... eugh!"

"No problem Dave. I'll just get to the Kolto Ta-"

Because Serap was not healed yet, he could walk or stand. When he tried to get up, he stumbled and fell flat on his face.

Sparrow winced. "Oh boy..." he knelt down and helped Serap regain his footing, then supported some of his weight, which wasn't very much to begin with, by putting Serap's arm around his shoulder. He lead him off to the Kolto tank.

"Thank. You."

Serap was out of kolto tank fast.

"Hey guys! Should we stay for dinner? Master Mical's making scrambling some Kinrath Eggs, and he's making a shake out of the green goo!"

"Um..do we want to eat stuff we just slaughtered? Cause he was gone for a few hours so he could have went in the cave and picked up some body parts. But this could be our last day with him, so we might as well"

Sparrow choked a bit, and almost seemed to turn a shade paler. He flinced visibly, before finally getting control. "He... he is not!"

"I don't usually eat his cooking. He's also cooking up some Kinrath steak, rare. He says the legs are the best part... Yesterday, he made me eat his mynock stew! Master Mical has... interesting tastes."

Serap pointed to a student, approaching with a plate. The plate had a bloody severed Kinrath leg on it, and the student was eating it.

The student shouted, "Master Mical's Cooking!"

The student was also drinking a glass of green goo.

"Dont worry Sparrow, it will taste like chicken. Everything tastes like chicken." Dave proceeds to lick his own arm. "See, even I taste like chicken..dont know how that happened though"

At the sight of the student with the leg, Sparrow almost lost it. In fact, he did. He ran to the nearest sink, (which happened to be there) and vomited.

Serap tripped the student. The student's green goo, landed on Sparrow's head. The bloody half eaten kinrath leg, fell into Sparrow's shirt. Of course, Serap used the force, to make them land where they did. Revenge for the kinrath joke in the caves!

Dave turned to Serap and said: "Serap, for all things holy in Zenka, run."

Sparrow was done vomiting... but then flinced as the stuff landed on him. Without thinking, he grabbed the leg out of his robes and flung it away. Amazingly enough, it landed perfectly on the tripped student's plate. Sparrow, who had thought there was nothing left to vomit in him, was proven wrong as this brought on a fresh wave of vomiting. "Eugh..."

"This is our last day with Master Mical. We owe it to him to eat his... dinner. Earlier, Dave said that. I agree with him. 2-1. We win. Hurry up Sparrow. Don't want to miss dinner. Scrumptious Kinrath Legs! But Master Mical will probably be handing out heads to. In fact, I even told him specifically that you would love to eat a Kinrath head. He also makes them really rare, so it's gonna be bloody. So hurry up Sparrow, you've got a Bloody Kinrath Head to eat!" Shouted Serap, just about to piss his pants laughing.

By now, Sparrow truly had nothing left to vomit... so he only gagged. He turned to Serap after washing the excess vomit from his face and mouth, breathing heavily, and a venomous look to his face. "You did... what!" He would lie to Master Mical, saying that he's giving it to Serap because he begged him for it...

"Hah! You should have seen the look on your face! We aren't having Kinrath! I hired a student to munch on a bloody leg, to make it look like we were eating it! Hah! The look on your face! Priceless! HAHAHAHAHA!" Serap was genuinely amazed that Sparrow would fall for that joke and let it all out.

Sparrow's eyebrow twitched a bit, as he processed this information... a joke? He shook with a bit of anger, but closed his eyes and repeated his anger-mantra. No anger... anger is the Dark Side... okay... He opened his eyes, and was still very close to inflicting all worlds of pain on Serap, but held on till the anger went away.

After finishing a kinrath leg Dave says "You mean we aren't eating kinrath? AHHH!" Dave rushes to the bathroom and brushes his teeth to the point that his gums start bleeding

--

"I'm not going to be the leader, that's pure and simple," knowing he'd throw himself back to his old habits as a Dark Jedi during the Jedi Civil War, he had abandoned the Force and became a hermit until he was recruited into being an apprentice at the Jedi Academy. He secretly hated Jedi and wanted to free the galaxy of them. "Anyone want to be the leader?" He asked as calmly as he could

Reg Tollian looked at his two companions. He wondered who should be the leader. He thought it should be him. So he desides to say so.

"I believe that I should be our leader, unless you guys think other wise."

"Whatever you say. I'll cover from the rear to straighten that out in our travels." Said Raiden, sounding very laid back about all of this, then he asked "Say Reg where are we anyway?" he then looked around, forgetting where they were

"I have no idea where we are, but do you have any idea of where we should go?" Asked Tollian

"Best bet would be a shop to buy some new items, then hit a cantina for drinks and information." commented the ExSith

Seeing that Xantos wasn't talking he assumed he would go where they would go.

"Fine, we will go to the local Cantina first, maybe find some jobs, and grab a drink or two."

Assuming that everyone was in agreement he heads towards the local Cantina

Raiden and Xantos follows Reg to the cantina but has an annoyed look on his face and whispers so no one can hear "I'd forgotten how stupid some Jedi are." The he noticed he was falling behind and caught up quickly.

When they arrive at the Cantina, Reg looks around to see if anyone interesting is there. It looks like only the local riff raff.

"Ok, Let's split up, see if you can find anything."

Tollian then walks towards the counter and orders a Juma Juice. As he waits he looks around again taking a closer look at the locals. He wonders to himself what the hell he and his companions are going to do. They didn't have a lot of money, enough to survive for a while but that would dry out soon enough. What would he and his companions do?

After getting a few drinks Raiden walks up to a shady rodian"What do you know about the Sith?" Raiden only heard the same old rumors aboout a Darth Xanith that he could get more information on in the Jedi Academy, as if he wanted to go back. He also heard the rodian saying that he needed some help setting up bombs near Khonda, Raiden, inconspiciously, stabbed him in the heart with a vibroknife.

We need out of here" said Reg Tollian grimly.

"Yes, and fast" said Raiden, "Let's leave."

"STOP! You are all touched by the Dark Side. It surges through you when you kill. I will help you down the familiar paths of the Dark Side"

The Avatar's voice boomed in their heads, and all of the sudden, there was a rumbling in the ground. A Holocron emerged from the ground, powered by the Dark Side, left during the Sith Occupation.

Tollian went to pick it up.

Raiden then leapt over Reg's head and grabbed the holocron and barrel-rolled over to the right.

Reg looked at the holocron rsting in Raiden's hand, something about this 'picture' had a natural seem to it, he asked "So Raiden what do you think this is? And what was with that wierd dark side vibe?"  
"I don't know, but I have a bad feeling about this." Raiden said, feeling a little unnerved at this holocron's mysterious appearence. "Let's go." They both, along with Xantos, left the cantina as fast as they could.


	2. The Day of Reckoning

Star Wars: Heart of Evil  
Chapter 2: Part 1

Chapter Title: The Day of Reckoning(Part One)

--

"So, should we continue on to town? Master Mical said we could borrow a landspeeder."

Dave returns from the bathroom, with widened eyes. "Serap, never do that again. But otherwise, nice joke. So do you guys think we should get going? or is there anything else that needs to be done?"

Sparrow, now under control, said "Yeah... I guess. Let's go."

"Alright guys! Hop in!" Serap was in the Landspeeder... he looked at the landspeeder. It was broken.

"Dammit! This landspeeder is broken. We have to walk."

"Hey! I got it working. Only problem is that it goes at 5 MPH! That's barely faster than walking, but at least it is faster a little! Lets pile in guys!"

Sparrow raised an eyebrow at Serap, then frowned. "Not really worth it. If it's in that bad of shape, then we'll have to repair it often, which will only slow us down Let's just not bother."

"No! I'm sure it works! It's also a lot less tiring. It's faster, and safer. It's also a lot more comfortable.

Serap ran, and went into the passenger seat. He slackened, and started to fall to sleep...

Dave looks at the landspeeder, and without warning, kicks it. A few seconds go by then all of a sudden, the landspeeder starts shaking, and falls apart. "I guess we gotta walk" Dave says smiling.

"You know, on second thought, we'll spend the night here at the enclave, and we'll head out in the morning."

Serap went to sleep in the enclave. He didn't quite want to leave...

Sparrow shrugged. "It is getting late. Yeah, we should get a fresh start tomorrow. And we need to ask Master Mical were we actually need to go."

"Hey! You know what would work great! If I stayed at the enclave, to uh... teach new recruits! Is that a good idea?" Serap twittered his fingers nervously, he was afraid to leave the enclave and go to face a Sith Lord.

Sparrow smacked Serap upside the head again.

The Padawans later decided to go to sleep, feeling that they needed as much rest as possible. Sleep came to the young Jedi, within six hours it was night time.

Xander was the first one awake as always. He used these times to center himself and train mentally. But today he had a conflict within himself, the light image in his head yesterday had been struck down by the dark...He figured that even if it came down to death, he needed to do the right thing.

Dave looked around the room to an empty bed and the rest of his party sleeping. But Dave wanted to get some more practice in, so he walked around the enclave dueling with any padawan he could while waiting for the rest of his party to wake up.

Xander snaps out of his meditation sensing Dave was coming near. He rushes our to meet him. "Don't have to many more duels, we're going to need our energy later today"

"I'm done dueling anyway, I think I broke a few of Master Mical's possesions, and one of the padawans are crying." Dave looked around and chuckled

"Dueling is fun, but Xander is right. We have to do a lot of walking, so you need lots of energy. By the way, I brought some sandwiches along, if we got hungry on the way...and I think that Padawan was me..."

Serap zipped up his backpack, with tons of stuff in it.

--

Reg looks at Raiden, a person he has known for years at the Jedi Academy, he knew he wasn't the best of people, but now he seemed..different. Raiden looked as if he was possesed by the Holocron. He decided would deal with this later.

"Hey Raid, maybe you should activate the Holocron, see what it is."

Raiden walked out of the cantina, tossing the holocron up and down, catcing it with the palm of his hand. This action seemed to indicate a 'no'.

Reg wondered why the hell they didn't just activate it now. There didn't seem to be any lock on it to stop them from not playing it. And another thing he was wondering was where the hell was Raid going? Reg quickly dashes the street and catches up with Raid.

"Hey buddy, theres no lock on the thing, there's nothing stopping us from activating it. Why wait? Let's just activate it now."

The ex-Jedi felt something in the Force, a Force-sensitive was near, Raiden's attention turned away from Reg and he set his eyes on a black octopus creature. "So Raiden, I see you have a Sith holocron. Impressive," the creature said, in it's dark, booming voice, "I have a mission for the three of you." Xantos looked at the monster, his eyes narrowing in suspicion, "What kind of mission?" The creature's one eye also narrowed, but in annoyance at the interruptions, "Raiden's.. ancestors promised me something, something big. Since they haven't done this, you all have to do it for them," it said cryptically.

The rogue Jedi, as of now, were confused, they left the Order out of distaste for their philosophy, not to go fufill some ancient promise. Raiden's lips turned from a confused frown into an uncanny sneer, he gruffly asked "What promise is this? What are you in this for?"

The monster looked at him and regarded him carefully, "You must bring me eleven.. special crystals. I believe you all have heard of the Solari and the Qixoni crystals, correct?" The group nodded, "Those are two of the eleven crystals, I need you all to bring me all eleven of the most powerful crystals in the galaxy." Raiden pondered this all for a moment, then thought of something. Taking out the Heart of the Guardian crystal he asked, "Is this one of the crystals you're looking for?" Its eye widened in shock, that was it! One of the eleven was in their possession! "Yes, that is it! Now, go! I sense another of the eleven crystals on.." The one-eyed-creature felt through the Force for the location of the nearest crystal, "The docks, you must head to the docks to find the next crystal."

The group, forgetting about the Sith Holocron, headed straight to the docks.

--

The monster laughed after they left, it telepathically contacted Xanith, Master, I have tricked the fools into searching for the Eleven Sacred Crystals. On the other end of the galaxy, in a giant warship, Xanith laughed. "Good my pet, you are truly worthy of the name Xanith's Eye. Now go and ensure young Skywalker falls to the Dark Side, he will make a great apprentice, after all, he's the most likely to be the Sith'Ari of legend." Xanith's Eye absorbed this information and would fufill its master's wishes. As you wish.

--

Reg and Xantos' curiousity soared immensly, why did the creature want them to search for the crystals? Its reasoning was illogical, if what it said was true, Raiden would have known by now instead of being dumbfounded. But most of all, they wanted to know where Raiden found the Heart of the Guardian crystal. Xantos was the first to speak up, "Say Raiden.. where'd you find that crystal?" Raiden's green eyes slowly moved towards Xantos in a cold stare, common from the young man by the seems of it, "On Taris, three months ago, when the Sith attacked."

The other two shut up, Taris was one of those topics that none of them talked about, except in reference. After that last mission Raiden's friendly attitude turned into a cold, harsh demeanor. The two looked at where Raiden was and found him missing, Reg swore, "Damnit, where did he go?" The two rogues searched through the Force for his location, for any imprints at all, they found nothing. The eldest of the two looked at the other, "Sometimes I wonder how he does that." They looked at the sky and noticed it was night, sighing, they moved out.

The Light Avatar watched as the rogues left to find their friend and noted the strange shifts in the Force. "Dark times are approaching, keep safe you three."

Raiden began walking towards the grove and sat down under a tree, he listened to the currents of the Force, breathing in the polluted power, then exhaling. "The Force has been polluted for the last three months.. ever since Taris.. but.. why?" He heard no response, he didn't care. None had been expected. The late night sky met Raiden's determined eyes and the howls of a kath hound could be heard. "Hmm, wether or not I'm the Sith'Ari, I will find out what's going on." He stood up from his sitting position and bolted off to find his friends, but all of the sudden he heard the calls of an old man screaming, "Help me! Please! You must help me!"

Raiden's eyes turned to the source of the shouting and decided to help the old man first, _then_ go and find Reg and Xantos. "Why do I get the feeling that this'll be a _long_ night?" He changed course and bolted to the old man to find out what was going on.


End file.
